Taiwan: Building could collapse after huge earthquake

A building has half-collapsed in Tainan, a southern city in Taiwan, following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that shook the island in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Tainan city’s fire department has formed an emergency response team and reports suggest 30 people have so far been rescued. The quake, initially reported as a magnitude 6.7, was centered southeast of Tainan, a city of nearly 2 million people.

People took to Twitter to report the earthquake as local sources claim it caused buildings to sway and doors and windows to crack. Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau also measured a second quake of 4.3 magnitude centered in Tainan.

The quake struck at around 3 p.m. EST Friday, or 2000 GMT, about six miles underground. The tremor was located some 22 miles southeast of Yujing, according to the survey. A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck central Taiwan in September 1999, killing at least 2,297 people and injuring nearly 9,000 others.